phrasal verb / idiom · informal
break the ice
/breɪk ðə aɪs/break·the·ICE
do or say something to relieve tension or get conversation started between people
Examples
“She told a funny story to break the ice at the meeting.”
“A short game helped break the ice among the new students.”
“I always bring up a light topic to break the ice on first dates.”
Band 8 sentence
“To avoid an awkward silence at the conference, the moderator told a short anecdote to break the ice and put everyone at ease.”
Collocations
- break the ice with someone
- break the ice at a meeting
- use a joke to break the ice
Word family
Common mistakes
start the ice→break the ice
open the ice→break the ice
make the ice→break the ice
Say it for a higher band
5start a conversation→6make small talk→7+break the ice
Synonyms
open up
start a conversation
Easily confused
open up
“After a few minutes of chatting, he finally opened up about his childhood.”
start a conversation
“She started a conversation with the new neighbour about gardening.”
Related words
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In break …
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